This is a discussion on Up-Pipe cat destroying turbo? within the General Maintenance, Troubleshooting & Accidents. forums, part of the Tech & Modifying & General Repairs category; I read one topic about an up-pipe cat coming apart and destroying the turbocharger? I'm VERY new to turbocharged motors ...

Up-Pipe cat destroying turbo?

I read one topic about an up-pipe cat coming apart and destroying the turbocharger? I'm VERY new to turbocharged motors and have no idea what an "up-pipe" is. Perhaps an engine bay shot pointing out/highlighting what it is would be very helpful.

I'm also wondering what year models this affected and if there was a recall issued. I'm buying a 2005 WRX Wagon this weekend with 65K miles. They say the issue needs to be corrected between 50K and 70K (which is about when it happened to the poster's friend, I think?).

1) this was an issue with any 02-05 wrx's. the uppipe had a catalytic converter in it that would potentially grenade into the turbo. the issue was fixed on 06+ models in which the uppipes have been made catless.

They say the issue needs to be corrected between 50K and 70K (which is about when it happened to the poster's friend, I think?).

Anyway... more info would be great!

I know of no source of reliable info on how many cars experienced a failure and at what age. Given the absence of info my guess is that more cars are not affected than are affected.

WRX Info Links, Courtesy TheJMan is a brute.... If you're cruel to him, he respects and fears you. If you're kind to him, he plucks your eyes out. Alexis ZorbasI lied. I cheated. I bribed men to cover the crimes of other men. I am an accessory to murder. But the most damning thing of all... I think I can live with it. And if I had to do it all over again - I would. Benjamin Sisko
DISCLAIMER: Opinions expressed are the author's alone and are inherently worthless.

See... I have this "curse". One month after purchasing a car (or given to me, in the case of the Rodeo), something happens. And because of this "curse", I get VERY paranoid about buying a new car... borderline scared. Here's the list.

'97 Isuzu Rodeo? Power steering locked up for a split second and caused me to hit a curb. Broke an axle, bent a rim, and knocked the transmission out of line (I don't remember exactly what they said). $1,800 to fix.

'99 Acura TL? Brakes failed and I rear-ended some old guy. Fortunately, he didn't sue for injuries. $3,000 to fix.

'03 Mustang GT? Girl was busy with her phone on a rainy night and pushed me off the road. Ended up hitting a concrete wall doing around 55 MPH. Totaled out a $13,000 machine. I walked away with $2,000 after insurance covered it.

'02 Volkswagen Passat 1.8T? Cylinder head fried. Took a month to fix it. Since it was covered by an extended warranty and thus a free repair, nearly $2,500 worth of problems came up over the next several months (does not include the cost of rental cars).

As you can see, it's beyond my control. And with the way things have been for me, I'd be the one to have the up-pipe problem. So tell me... is there a word for "the fear of buying a car"?

If you have superstitions then be extra careful when buying a WRX. Most people are cool but a lot of people try to modify their WRX's with out getting tuned and end up having problems. They then try to return the car to stock and dump their mistakes on unfortunate buyers.

Research the car and try to find an unmodified car. Subaru's are very reliable when left stock or tuned smartly.

Life is like riding a bicycle in order to keep your balance you must keep moving.

This one has only had one owner. He put a downpipe, exhaust, K&N drop-in filter, 17" wheels, I think lowered it about an inch, and let it go from there. I test drove it twice and felt no oddities in the performance of the car. The only issue I could tell was the brakes shuddered under firm braking (rotors).

WRX Info Links, Courtesy TheJMan is a brute.... If you're cruel to him, he respects and fears you. If you're kind to him, he plucks your eyes out. Alexis ZorbasI lied. I cheated. I bribed men to cover the crimes of other men. I am an accessory to murder. But the most damning thing of all... I think I can live with it. And if I had to do it all over again - I would. Benjamin Sisko
DISCLAIMER: Opinions expressed are the author's alone and are inherently worthless.

1) this was an issue with any 02-05 wrx's. the uppipe had a catalytic converter in it that would potentially grenade into the turbo. the issue was fixed on 06+ models in which the uppipes have been made catless.

'97 Isuzu Rodeo? Power steering locked up for a split second and caused me to hit a curb. Broke an axle, bent a rim, and knocked the transmission out of line (I don't remember exactly what they said). $1,800 to fix.

'99 Acura TL? Brakes failed and I rear-ended some old guy. Fortunately, he didn't sue for injuries. $3,000 to fix.

'03 Mustang GT? Girl was busy with her phone on a rainy night and pushed me off the road. Ended up hitting a concrete wall doing around 55 MPH. Totaled out a $13,000 machine. I walked away with $2,000 after insurance covered it.

'02 Volkswagen Passat 1.8T? Cylinder head fried. Took a month to fix it. Since it was covered by an extended warranty and thus a free repair, nearly $2,500 worth of problems came up over the next several months (does not include the cost of rental cars).

vBulletin Message

Errors

The following errors occurred with your submission

Quick Reply

Register Now

Please enter the name by which you would like to log-in and be known on this site.If you do not want to register, fill this field only and the name will be used as user name for your post.

Password:

Confirm Password:

Please enter a password for your user account. Note that passwords are case-sensitive.

Email Address:

Please enter a valid email address for yourself. We strongly suggest that you stay away from using aol, yahoo, msn, and hotmail accounts. Sometimes the mail server blocks the emails from our server. As a result you will not receive any notifications including the confirmation email.

Log-in

User Name:

Password:

Human Verification

In order to verify that you are a human and not a spam bot, please enter the answer into the following box below based on the instructions contained in the graphic.